Editing Merikarvia (section)

=== Language and dialect ===
Like neighboring [[Ahlainen]] (Vittisbofjärd), Merikarvia was originally predominantly Swedish-speaking due to the Swedish settlement in the area during the Middle Ages. The Swedish language mostly disappeared from the area in the early 20th century, mainly remaining in the village of Kasala (Kasaböle) near the border with [[Sideby]]. Kasala became a majority Finnish-speaking village between the 20th and 21st centuries.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dialekter och småstadsspråk - 1683.pdf|url=https://www.sls.fi/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/1683.pdf|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=sls.fi|language=sv}}</ref>

A Swedish-language school was active in Kasala from 1897 until 1967.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kasaböle svenska folkskola|url=http://sydaby.eget.net/eng/nybond/ksf.htm|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=sydaby.eget.net|language=sv}}</ref>

The Finnish dialect of Merikarvia is a [[Southwest Finnish dialects|southwestern dialect]], similar to the other dialects of northern Satakunta.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lounaismurteiden alue|url=http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/lounais.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007232031/http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/lounais.html|archive-date=October 7, 2019|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=sokl.uef.fi|language=fi}}</ref> The dialects of Merikarvia and Ahlainen are among the few dialects of Finnish where the sound [[Voiced dental and alveolar plosives|/d/]] is used in native words (e.g. ''lähde''), as in standard Finnish. Most other dialects of the area use [[Voiced alveolar trill|/r/]] in its place.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kartta 65: (pata:) padan, palan, paran, paan jne. - Kettunen: Suomen murteet|url=http://kettunen.fnhost.org/html/kett065.html?i=1|access-date=December 30, 2022|website=kettunen.fnhost.org|language=fi}}</ref>